
QassIIK 5 3 

Bookj-ii^jSi- 



THE ROYAL ECLIPSE; 

OR, 

DELICATE FACTS 



Exhibiting the Secret Memoirs of Squire George 
and his Wife. 

WITH NOTES* 



By DIOGENES. 



Mark, 



•' How a plain tale shall set him down ! 

Skakspeare. 



THIRD EDITION. 



LONDON: 

Printed by B. N. SHURY, Berwick Street, Soho, 

FOR J. F. HUGHES, W1GMORE STREET, 
CAVENDISH SQUARE, 



1807. 



V 



A 2.2-31 4*2. 



<*W 



*&>«. 



i$gS 



PREFACE. 



" Example corrupts, and cor- 
" ruption, in no sphere of life, 
" resists seduction. It reigns 
" triumphant in the palaces of 
" Princes: how unjust then is 

A 3 



VI PREFACE. 

" it to act, as if we supposed it 
" had no influence among those 
" who are without rags to de- 
" fend their bodies from the 
•' cold, or a hovel where to 
" thrust their wretched heads. 

" Truth, however, ought not 
" to be too bold: lawyers give 
" their own translations to 
M words, and by forced ap- 
" plications, andridiculous in- 



PREFACE. VII 

" nuendos, establish the guilt 
" and perhaps transport the in- 
" nocent convict to Botany 
" Bay. 

" Do the laws of Britain really 
" authorize these penalties? — 
" Are such the merciful laws of 
f* English liberty? — Is our boast- 
" ed constitution so delicately 
" woven, as to reject the least 
" investigation? Is it just, or 

A 4 



• •• 



V1U PREFACE. 

% lawful, that men professing 
ft peaceable principles, and who 
" quietly discuss them, be seized, 
" imprisoned, and possibly con- 
r * demned, for exercising these 
?.' powers?" 

Yet extraordinary inquiries 
into the freedom of the press, 
have natarally excited extraor- 
dinary alarm, as the following 
anecdote may serve to evince. 



PREFACE. IX 

In one of the numbers of a 

periodical publication — then 

much in vogue — a story is re- 
lated of a Game Cock, and this 

cock is represented as a gre 

tyrant among the feathered rac 

By a strange perversion ,. 
ideas, this game cock is said to 

have signified our M G ■ 

S- — , and the publisher* was 

* Mr. Eaton, 



PREFACE. 



prosecuted for the libel. On 
the trial, however, the jury dif- 
fered in opinion with the Attor- 
ney-General, and acquitted the 
prisoner. 

Thus, it would appear, by the 
deliberate judgment of twelve 
well-chosen men, that H — M — 
was not, at that period, to be 
considered as a Game Cock. 



PREFACE. Xl 

Conscience is a monitor that 
knows no distinction of persons. 
If conscience, therefore, should 
awaken remorse in the minds of 
any personages whatever — be 
the crime on their own head — 
I only hold up the mirror. 



MOTTO. 



Some followers of mine own, 



At lower end o 5 the hall, hurPd up their caps, 
And some ten voices cry'd — God save King 

Richard! 
And thus I took the vantage of those few™ 
Ci Thanks, gentle citizens, my friends"— quoth I— 
a This general applause, and cheerful shout, 
u Argues your wisdom, and your love to 
" Richard." 

Shakspeare. 



THE ROYAL ECLIPSE; 



DELICATE FACTS. 



u 



WHEN men are agreed as to the 
" merit or demerit of others — the de- 
" gree of admiration in which they 
" hold the one> and of aversion with 
" which they regard the other, will de- 

B 



2 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

" pend, in great measure, on the force 
" and vivacity of their imagination. 

cc Men, whose minds are strong and 
" ardent, will, naturally, express them- 
€C selves with warmth; and if the mat - 
" ter appear, to them, enormous, they 
" will express themselves with intem- 
w perance, in order to prevent the re- 
cc petition of what they conceive to be 
u crime ) and crime, perhaps, of very 
" dangerous tendency/ * 

But — - cc I do not wish to talk with 
6C asperity of crowned heads. On the 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 



" contrary, it is very much my wish to 
" respect them. That, however, can 
" no longer be done, than while they 
" respect themselves. 

" To talk of homage to crowns and 
" coronets, when they only decorate 
" crimes, or imbecility, is an affront to 
" the understanding; and implies great 
" ignorance, or great servility. 

" My loyalty is not of that stamp.— 
" It is limited like my faith, and reason 
" must mark the boundary. 

b 2 



4 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

" In all the great moral duties of life, 

" a perfect concordance should prevail. 

" If one man claims exemption — ano- 

" ther has an equal right to dispen- 

* c satiom 

" To prevent this irregularity, and 
u its consequences. Princes should be 
" curbed as well as Peasants. 

" I have no objection to make every 
" reasonable allowance for follies, that 
u ^re inoffensive or unimportant. But 
" the vice that, impudently, braves pub- 
u lie justice, and exacts homage from 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 5 

iQ virtue — that gigantic vice, which, 
" from the proud and insulting pre- 
" eminence of rank, has the audacity to 
6f set morality at defiance, and is as in- 
" corrigible in its nature, as it is mis- 
u chievous in its consequences — that 
" description of vice, I will ever main- 
" tain, ought to be felled, to the ground, 
" with the club of Hercules. 

cc What shall we court, fawn, 

" and attend — gentleman-usher like — 

" upon vice in embroidery, while we 

" loath, detest, and consign to the 

B 3 



P ROYAL ECLIPSE, 

u gibbet, without pity or remorse, 
u the vice that we behold in rags ? 

" Shall the unhappy female driven 

u by NECESSITY — -not CONSTITUTION— 

u to the bitter and humiliating re- 
" sources of prostitution, skulk in holes 
u and corners, afraid of the beadle and 
u his lash, while the dignified prosti- 
" tute — more fortunate, yet infinitely 
" more atrocious— confident of protec- 
" tion, and honored where she ought to 
« be spurned, TRIUMPHS in her turpi- 
" tude, and insults virtue with impu- 
" nity? 



- ROYAL ECLIPSE, 7 

H Oh, shameless — ruinous — incon- 
u sistency 1 — Subversive of all morals, 
" and not to be defended even by those 
u who practice, or applaud, it, 

" If, in defiance of decorum, duty, 
" and public opinion, the titled harlot 
" will play the wanton — -let the rank 
" that she, unworthily, holds in society, 
u be deemed an aggravation of her in- 
" famy. 

" But, of what avail, just Heaven ! 
" are truth, argument, and eloquence 
" combined, against the more powerful 
b 4 



8 ROYAL ECLIPSE, 

" counteractions of self-interest, habit, 
" and the vitiated manners of the 
a times! 5 ' 

I am led to retrace these remarks*, in 
the language of that able, though rigid 
commentator, Mr. Wm. Miles, and hold 
them up, in all the majesty of truth, to 
the nnimpassioned contemplation of the 
world at large— not with a view to 
party calumny — for I will " nought ex- 
tenuate ; nor ought set down in malice"— 
but with a view to common justice. 

* Applying to the conduct of a certain Coun- 
tess. 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. V 

Many are the opinions as to the ad- 
vantages and disadvantages of Royal 
descent; but it is scarcely possible to 
resist, by argument, this position: " that 
the blessings of domestic happiness — 
open to the free enjoyment of all the 
meanest classes of society — are privi- 
leges — if not wholly denied, at least 
partially distributable — among the sons 
and daughters of Royalty." 

Their bond of union is not cemented 

by the approbation of the heart; but 

fettered by the cold maxims of state 

policy. Inclination, even, is not per- 

B.5 



10 ROYAL ECLIPSE, 

mittedto assert its claims; and whether 
the object be a powerful alliance in sup- 
port of the dignity of the crown; or, a 
forced alliance to remove personal in- 
conveniency, policy alike commands and 
confirms the mock pageantry of the 
splendid ceremony— thereby pledging*, 
to each other, persons with minds, cus- 
toms., manners, prejudices, and delica- 
cies, as foreign to each other 5 as the 
countries which respectively may have 
given them birth. 

But however this sort of subject may 
have afforded materials to the needy 



ROYAL ECLIPSE^ 1 I 

pamphleteer — or, however the fashion- 
able world may arrogate to itself to de- 
. cide between man and wife — I launch 
my bark — not in pursuit of notoriety, 
hut fact. I disclaim all intention of pro- 
posing " to pry into the arcana of a 
Royal bedchamber." — I seek not to un- 
veil the failings of any illustrious person- 
age—to canvass motives which confine 
them to obscurity — or to analyze facts I 
cannot establish. I wish to confine my 
strictures to my own sphere in life — to 
develope the frailties of an untitled fire- 
side — to judge my peers by their deme- 
rits, and censure them accordingly, 
b 6 



12 ROYAL ECLIPSE, 



To the tale, 

In a delightful park, beautifully situ- 
ated in the county of B -, stands the 

manor and appendages of the ancient 
family of the Roys. 

The building is Gothic, descriptive, at 
once, of the magnificent taste of former 
times, and the high lineage of its pris- 
tine lords. 

George Roy, Esq. the present tenant, 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. F3 

is the happy father of a large family of 
bovs and girls: the latter of whom are 
equally admired, in every circle, for the 
beauty of their persons, and the virtues 
which adorn them. 

Of the sons, one has been brought 
up to the navy;: and the remainder to 
the army; all excepting Squire George ? 
— -the heir apparent of the family ho- 
nors — long since grown to manhood} 
but a scape-grace from his cradle. 

I could relate a thousand pranks of 
the young gentleman; who, from his 



14 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

first lisp, disregarded the admonition of 
his parents- — mocked his tutors— spurn- 
ed at restraint— and displayed the inde- 
pendence of his disposition in wild and 

mischievous ebullitions of unbridled 
fancy- 

Increasing years gave increasing im- 
petus to his daring spirit, and the mad 
pranks of the spoiled boy were merely 
changed, by time, into the gay achieve- 
ments of the polished man. 

Wit, women, and wine, were among 
the first objects of his idolatry j but 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 15 

fashion soon after exposing, to him, the 
charms of the gaming-table and the de- 
lights of the race course, he readily en- 
grafted these elegant pursuits on his 
code of studies. 

Thousands heaped on thousands were 
eagerly swallowed in this vortex of dis- 
sipation; till, at length, the embarrassed 
state of his finances called aloud for 
help. 

Let it not, however, be supposed, that 
the foibles of } outh are inseparable from 
the vices of the heart. Squire George 

2 



16 ROYAL ECLIPSE, 

6C with all his imperfections on his head J r 
was elegant, accomplished, brave, gene- 
rous, munificent — the envy of the men 
—the idol of the women — the terror of 
the worthless — the friend of the dis- 
tressed—the patron of neglected ta- 
lent. 

At this period of difficulty, the old ! 
gentleman— -not with the severity of a 
parent ; but with the mild remonstran- 
ces of a friend — besought his son tt* 
give up his profligate companions, and 
conduct himself in a manner more ho- 
norable to his family, and creditable to 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. l7 

himself: and, in a further hope, that 
the virtuous endearments of a wife, 
might serve to domesticate his charac- 
ter, the good old gentleman promised 
him to pay the whole of his debts, if he 
would consent to marry his cousin, a 
very beautiful young lady, in the bloom 
of life. 

George receded, at first, from this 
unexpected stipulation; but finding he 
could not, otherwise, prevail on his fa- 
ther to discharge his tradesmen's bills, 
and liquidate his debts of honor, he con^ 
sented to the terms proposed. 



18 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

Nothing could exceed the splendors 
of the wedding-day. The family was 
popular in the county, and the joy of 
their neighbours, on this occasion, was 
manifested in bonfires, illuminations, 
marrow-bones and cleavers, and other 
rustic rejoicings. 

It happened, unfortunately, that Mrs. 
George had been educated abroad, and 
imbibed all the levity, and flippancy of 
manners, which are characteristic of fo- 
reign customs, not untinctured with a 
certain want of delicacy \ to the possession 
of which English minds are invariably 
wedded. 



ROYAL ECLIPSE* 39 

It is well known as .the novelty of 
beauty wears off in the new-made bride, 
she steps, progressively, from the stilts 
of divinity, and appears the unadorned 
emblem of earthly imperfections; the 
dying embers of the hymeneal torch too 
suddenly expire ? when unfanned by those 
chaste refinements, which can, alone, im- 
prove upon, or heighten, the pure en- 
joyments of love. Satiety is often fol- 
lowed by disgust, and it is an alarming 
fact, that the infidelity of the husband 
will beget the infidelity of the wife. 

At all events, twelve months had 



20 ROYAL ECLIPSE, 

scarcely made their evolution, ere the 
apostate husband returned to the wel- 
come arms of a former mistress, leaving 
his young wife to the cheerless comforts, 
of a solitary bed. 

There is one blessing in wedded love, 
however, which, with minds of sensi- 
bility, proves a valuable resource against 
the horrors of seclusion. Mrs. George 
was the mother of a daughter, whose 
dawning beauties and seraphic smile 
might have counteracted the malignancy 
of her fate — but, alas! the peculiar feel- 
ings of the lady were not susceptible of 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 21 

attachment to a daughter — She hated 
girls; but concealed her unnatural pre- 
judice under the hypocritical semblance 
of maternal tenderness. 

Of the father she soon became equally- 
indifferent — Pride rapidly usurped the 
claims of affection, and whatever of 
sensibility might have been in her na- 
ture, yielded to the voice of vengeance. 

Mrs. George now sought every op- 
portunity to expose her husband's de- 
linquency. She appealed publicly to 
her uncle—his father— for redress. She 



22 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

drove through the most frequented 
parts of the neighbourhood in an open 
landau, with her xhild, to excite com- 
passion — pretending a tenderness for 
the infant, she was incapable of feeling. 
She frequented the theatre, and subscrip- 
tion balls to make her party strong 
against her husband, and studied every 
opportunity, otherwise, to load him with 
obloquy. 

Two parties were immediately formed 
in the county. A few were staunch to 
their old bottle companion, but the 
many espoused the cause of the de* 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 23 

serted bride; insomuch, that public 
huzzaings would often greet her appear- 
ance abroad. 

The old gentleman, anxious to restore, 
if possible, his son to his niece, saw with 
infinite displeasure that she had adopted 
the mode of all others least calculated 
to promote their reunion. He remon- 
strated therefore, and engaged, on her 
promising to observe a more moderate 
conduct, to mediate a reconciliation. 

In this laudable pursuit, however, he 
was foiled by the inconsistency of the 



24 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

lady 5 who made — and unmade — stipu- 
lations, in proportion as she fancied she 
was regaining power; till at length, the 
young squire refused to be, any longer, 
the plaything of a woman's caprices, and 
determined to renounce her for ever. 

Separate establishments, and separate 
maintenances followed. Mrs. George 
retired to the neighbourhood of Lon- 
don, where her uncle provided her with 
a very charming lodge ; and her income 
was settled at a rate proportioned to her 
rank in society. 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 23 

Meanwhile the unfettered squire rov- 
ed from flower to flower in the garden 
of beauty, sipping passing sweets, and 
leaving to her undisturbed enjoyments, 
his ladv and her friends. 

About this time, however, an acci- 
dent happened which contributed not 
only to lessen Mrs. George in the good 
opinion of her husband, but even to 
alienate the regard of his family, 'which, 
hitherto, had never forsaken her. 

A parcel of letters, written in the ful- 
ness — perhaps malignancy — of her heart, 



26 ^ ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

were by some accident intercepted, and 
conveyed to the manor-house, which 
proved the talents of the fair writer to 
be of rather a dangerous tendency. 
Her friends, however, glossed over the 
offence, and with peculiar address re- 
moved the censure to the squire, on the 
score of his intriguing with the attend- 
ant to whom Mrs. George had commit- 
ted the parcel, and as an abettor of a 
breach of confidence between a servant 
and her mistress. 

Thus the tide of obloquy still pur- 
sued the young squire, and his neg- 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 27 

lectof suffering innocence continued 
to be the. theme of general reprehen- 
sion, while the fair recluse — in the re- 
pose of triumph — devoted herself — as it 
was said — to works of fancy, and other 
elegant domestic pursuits. 

" To espouse the Gause of suffering 
innocence— when we know it to be such 
« — ever has been, an* i ever will be — I 
trust, the proud distinction of a Briton. 
Mrs. George found friends every where, 
at the expense of th ustice and reputa- 
tion of her husband. The public prints 
teemed, daily, with praises of her virtue^ 
c2 



28 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

and were, equally, lavish in their abuse 
of the squire, 

" But it is a mistaken privilege in 
" society, sanctioned by custom imme- 
a n it ia), for parties to interfere in all 
w public family disputes, although it is, 
< c in truth, both indelicate and impro- 
u per for any persons whatever — ex- 
" cept by blood very nearly connected 
" — to interfere, at all. Nay, even to 
a talk of it, is reprehensible. 

" Family matters among people of 
u sense and discretion are always con- 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 29 

a sidered, as it were, forbidden conver- 
" sation. There are good reasons for 
" such forbearance, and not the least of 
" all is, that it must be useless, because 
" the truth never can be come at upon 
" such subjects. 

u In the case before us 9 many people 
" have chosen to canvas the conduct of 
" the squire with unbounded severity; 
" although it was impossible — from cir- 
" cumstances— that they should so com- 
" pletely have dived into the real 
springs of the actions of the parties as 
to say the real cause of the separation. 
c3 



GC 



cc 



SO ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

* c Perhaps, there may be faults on 
u both sides— perhaps there is scarcely 

# any on either ; but the natural dispo- 
* c - sition of the parties may be so diffe- 
u rent as to preclude a possibility of 
^ their living together in that peace 
u and harmony which they both would 
u wish. 

44 But whatever be the case, I am 
" sure all the world will agree with me 

* that it is not right to prejudge either 

£C party. 

" One may lament the circumstances, 



ROYAL ECLII. 31 

Ki but to throw odium, either on the 
" squire, or his wife, merely because 
" scandal would provoke it, is a con-. 
" duct, I am sure, every man of honor 
" or honesty must feel very disgrace- 
" ful." 

In the mean time, the infant Char- 
lotte, displaying uncommon capacity, 
was removed from the nursery, and 
placed under the immediate guardian- 
ship of proper tutors to embellish her 
person and understanding as the ex- 
pectant heiress to the family fortunes, 
c 4 



32 ROYAL ECLIPSE, 

Deprived of the beloved society of- this 
interesting companion, Mrs. George be- 
came, some time after, the fond patroness 
of a pretty curly-headed boy, whom— as 
she stated-— she had taken from his poor 
parents to console her for the loss of her 
little darling* 

Charity is said to cover a multitude 
of sins ; but in this instance, it seemed 
rather to uncover a multitude of of- 
fences. 

Certain whisperings aroused certain 
conjectures — they engendered suspicion 



ROYAL ECLIPSE* 33 

— inquiry followed — and in process of 
time, conviction bid fair to develope the 
parentage of the little William. 

Affairs now assumed a different as- 
pect. 

In the neighbourhood of the lodge 
lived a veteran soldier — not a veteran in 
years, but service — a veteran, whom it 
is to be hoped this country will not ea- 
sily forget ; and whom it is impossible 
Buonaparte should ever cease to re- 
member. 

c 5 



'«* ; 34 ROYAL ECLIPSE* 

Laurelled by his King, he sought re- 
pose in the arms of beauty, from the 
toilsome campaigns he had suffered 
abroad. 

The object of the gallant soldier's 
choice, however, was not so remarkable 
for her personal, as her mental^ endow- 
ments ; although" the former are, by no 
means, free from captivation. The new 
wedded pair chose their residence in the 
neighbourhood of the widowed Mrs, 
George, and the ladies soon became 
extremely intimate. 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 35 

Among the many who hastened to 
congratulate Colonel Randolph on his 
marriage, was his old friend Captain 
Smythe of the navy : -these gentlemen 
had often been companions in the heat 
of battle, and as nothing associates two 
noble hearts more firmly than an equal 
participation of danger, they loved each 
other as brothers. 

Mrs. Randolph received the Captain 
with the freedom of an old acquaintance, 
and introduced him to her friend Mrs. 
George, where he was likewise received 
on an intimate footing. 
c 6 



36 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

But the captain, though bred to the 
sea and a rough sailor in the storm, 
possessed all the politeness of a well-bred 
gentleman in the drawing-room. He 
was either the votary of love or war as 
occasion presented itself, and soon dis- 
tinguished Mrs. George as the object of 
his pointed gallantry. 

Another twelve-month passed, during 
which period the Captain made frequent 
excursions to his friend's cottage — 
where he domesticated as he pleased* 
Mrs. Randolph became the happy 
mother of a girl, and he proposed him- 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 37 

self as godfather to the infant who 
was named— in compliment — Smythe 
Randolph, 

At length Mrs, Randolph, understand- 
ing from her servants that the Captain 
never slept at home, mentioned it, with 
expressions of surprise, to the Colonel. 

iC And pray, my dear, what is that 
"to you" — he replied good-humor edly— 
" Smythe is my other self, and by G — d 
" he shall do just as he pleases in my 
If house/ 9 



38 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

This reproof was quite sufficient to 
silence Mrs. Randolph, but the more 
secretly the Captain endeavoured to 
conduct himself, the more he awakened 
the curiosity of the servants, till it be- 
came the common topic of the kitchen 
— " That Captain Smythe left the cot- 
^ tage every night when he supposed 
" all the family at rest — muffled in his 
4i boat cloak, and, protected by a con- 
cc cealed hanger^ took his course across 



€6 t\ 



the Park," 



Suddenly, Mrs, George almost drop- 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 38 

ped her visits at the cottage, and was 
much less frequent than usual in her 
invitations to the Park. 

„■ One day, the Colonel was strangely- 
alarmed with the receipt of an anony- 
mous letter, written in a female cha- 
racter, and disclosing, as if in friendship 
to him, that an intrigue was on foot 
between his wife and Captain Smythe. 

He flew to the chamber of the latter, 
with the libel in his hand, and present- 
ing the superscription, demanded of the 
Captain if he knew the writing. 



40 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

" Perfectly' 5 — was the reply— 

a And the seal ?" 

u Both are Mrs. George Roy's. 9 ' 

" Then read the contents/' 

It is not easy to describe the horror 
and indignation which filled his mind 
on the occasion ; but turning to his 
friend, and stifling his resentment, he 
endeavoured, calmly, to say, 

" We will not, for all this, Randolph, 
a cut each other's throats." 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 41 

" No' 5 — replied the Colonel grasping 
the hand that was offered to him — " We 
u will not — rbut this is a most diabolical 
" plot. We are known, to have bled 
" together, and to be irascible to a fault 

" in points of honor Oh, Smythe, 

" had I not known you as I do, to w r hat 
" a fatal error might this cursed scroll 
" have led me! 5 ' 

" And your wife"— interrupted the 
Captain — w has she no claims on your 
" confidence ? — Fye, my friend, be more 
" just to her merit on every occasion, 
" and never yield a degenerate weak- 



42 ROYAL ECLIPSE.. 

^ ness to your passions at the instigation 
€C of an)r masked assassin of your fatfira 
" peace and honor. Let us coolly in- 
" vestigate this business." . 

Without detailing particulars, it may 
suffice to state, that the two friends 
became assured in their suspicion — 
Mrs. George was the author of the 
letter. 

It has been remarked by writers of 
celebrity, that the vices of man are slow 
and progressive — those of woman rapid 
and decisive. And this observatioa 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 43 

rather attaches to the laws of society, 
than to any peculiar atrocity supposed 
to inhabit the female bosom. 

By usage, one false step in woman 
is irretrievable. This barbarous ordi- 
nance, therefore, begets future crimes. 
A girl, betrayed by the sensibilities of 
her nature into a forgetfulness of what 
she owes to the world, no longer hesi- 
tates in the indulgence of her passions ; 
which, in proportion as they have been 
pent up — rush, like a torrent that has 
forced its dam, disdaining opposition : 
— she hates the virtue that rejects her — 



44 ROYAL ECLIPSR. 

and nature, thenceforward, only obeys 
its very worst impulse. While man 
is ever encouraged in error by the sex 
he would betray; villainy is called 
gallantry ; and the lips of beauty and 
innocence are not supposed to be de- 
filed, when they soften the Immoralities 
of a rake of fashion by declaring, " that 
a reformed libertine always makes the 
best husband." Vanity still goes farther 
—each admiring Miss fancies she posses- 
ses that secret of reformation, and risks 
her eternal happiness in this world on 
the capricious die* 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 45 

Love and jealousy, we are told by 
sentimentalists, are twin sisters. — Mrs. 
George was a pupil of that persuasion, 
and construed the intimately virtuous 
intercourse subsisting between the Cap- 
tain and Mrs. Randolph into a confirma- 
tion of their guilt. She knew, perhaps, 
to parly with her lover on the occasion, 
would be to expect a useless torrent of 
words — she, therefore, determined to 
strike ; but the envenomed weapon re- 
coiled upon herself. 

Acts of ostentatious charity had, 
hitherto, established Mrs, George's re- 



46 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

putation ? as the paragon of all earthly 
goodness. Her servants were remark- 
able for preserving their places; and had 
she been less beloved, it might have been 
observed — by village gossips — that they 
were remarkably profuse and elegant 
in their expenses- — be that as it may, 
the Colonel was pleased to give a new 
turn to the village conversation by 
openly avowing his opinion of the lady's 
depravity. 

It was a bold effort. ..... all the 

world declaimed loudly against him as 
a monster. • . . the women almost hooted 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 47 

him, and shunned his amiable wife for 
the virtues they should have worshipped. 

The question became serious.- — The 
manor of Roy field had descended from 
father to son in regular succession — 
though not, exclusively, entailed on 
issue male : it was too considerable to 
be trifled with. The infant Charlotte 
had been considered the rightful heiress 
of these proud domains, and Squire 
George trembled with an honest pride, 
when he was told that a bastard son, 
born in marriage, might, by law, super- 
sede her claim. A thousand passing 
2 



48 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

tales augmented his apprehensions on 
this head 

Mrs. George was described to be im* 
moderately fond of the boy William- — 
the little cottager had the parade and 
attendance of a count 'attached to his 
nursery; and when the carriage was 
ordered to air the pretty pet abroad* 
every care was taken, " that the winds 
" of Heaven should not s too rudely^ 
" wanton o'er his cheek," 

These and other circumstances buz- 
zed by report, occasioned the family to 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 49 

assemble, in debate, on the importance 
of the future inheritance to be establish- 
ed in the manor and appendages. 

And here let me excite the admira- 
tion of the reader, by declaring, that 
although the young squire would have 

been pleased to have rid himself of a 
supernumerary wife — he refused to be a 
party in these family consultations, re- 
solving that the establishment of her 
guilt or innocence should not be weighed 
down by one atom of personal feeling or 
resentment. 

D 



5Q ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

It would be hazardous to attempt 
detailing what exactly passed on this 
occasion, because it was never published; 
but I do not hesitate to aver, that the 
enquiry tended to criminate the lady. 

In saying that the particulars were 
never published, I am not altogether 
correct. A pamphlet issued from the 
press, which had been prepared by a 
gentleman employed, professionally, in 
the investigation; but the love of gain- 
even in a lawyer — yielded to prudence, 
and he suppressed, almost as soon as he 
published — the Delicate Enquiry. 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 5! 

He who has been admitted to a secret, 
will always find some dear friend or 
other, to whose confidence he anxiously 
imparts the trust : hence the grounds on 
which I aver as follows* . 

* Possibly I may be called a plagiarist here., 

as I confess there are passages in a novel lately 

published, entitled The Infidel Mother, which 

bear strong resemblance to my statement. But 

what have I to do with the fictions of a Novelist ? 

- — if they are fictions? — I speak on the broad basis 

of personal conviction. I will not, however, 

dismiss this article without remarking, that J 

have read the Infidel Mother, and recommend it, 

as the boldest and best written satire on the times 

of any extant. 

D 2 



52 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

That, Mrs. George had notorious 
conveniences — purposely erected — to 
favor intrigue ; and that her* finances 

* I have heard it asserted— and I believe with 
truth — that a certain lady now living in separa- 
tion from her husband, finds a regularly paid 
income of 4,2501. per quarter, inadequate to the 
expences of retirement — 25,0001. have since been 
given to her by a relation, in discharge of her 
incumbrances.— -She has raised 80001. on certain 
manorial rights — and tradesmen still cry aloud 
for 80,0001. It would appear that something like 
secret service money must have produced this 
mischief, as the lady does not game. 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 53 

were considerably impaired in bribing 
her domestics to secrecy. 

That a certain officer of his Majesty's 
navy was the reputed father of the 
darling William, by his chaste patroness. 

That a certain miniature painter had 
been detected one evening locked up^ 
in the eating parlor with her, when the 
hours flew swiftly on the soft pinions 
of love, and the enraptured pair forgot 
that it was supper time. 

As to Captain Smythe, it came out, 
d 3 



54 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

that the lady had cast off all reserve with 
him — kissing him 9 as he took leave^ in 
her carriage— adjusting his frill in the 
drawing room- — patting his cheek— and 
other innocent liberties 5 at which English 
Modesty would certainly blush j but 
which are. perhaps ^ very reconciieable 
with the indulgences of foreign customs* 

It is worthv of remark *W d^il&l ths 

fashionable sepakation* originally 

* This is an almost indefinable term, and 
unlimited in its nature. Scandal*— I do not say 
truth— affirmed last winter., that the gay lord 



ROYAL ECLIPSE*. 55 

existing between Squire George and his 
wife — when they politely visited each 

B coming home rather unopportunely, 

caught his lady in the arms of Lord F his 

near relation. With polite non-chalance, the 
Cornuto, turning to his friend, said: 

u My dear F it will not do either of us 

any good to shoot the other ; but you must still 
pay for peeping. — Give me 10,0001, and we are 
better friends than ever." 

Lord F — — swore he was an honest fellow, 
and promised. 

On cooler reflection, however, he thought the 
D 4 



56 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

other, occasionally, at their meals ; and 
as politely retired to separate beds, the 

price of the indulgence altogether unreasonably 
and remonstrated, 

" Then give me 8,00.01."— said the noble 
lord. 

" Too much, by God V*~ -replied the other- 
shaking his head* 

u They comf ounded^ and four thousand 
pounds was paid by Lord F to Lord B— - 

by virtue of which, said Lord B ■ ■ hath vested 
In said Lord F all his rights of cuisage and* 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 57 

brutal Squire, as he one day caressed his 
lovely infant — of whom he was dotingly 
fond — took occasion to find fault with 
the exuberant curls that floated o'er her 

jambage which the said Lord F enjoys ad 

libitum. 

This elegant arrangement does not prevent 

the civil attentions of Lord and Lady B 

to each other, when they meet in company. 
Her Ladyship still heads his Lordship's table — 
occupies a seat, sometimes, in his barouche, and 
at other times in his landaulet, when his Lord- 
ship divides his elegant attention between his 
four blood bays, and her high mettled Ladyship. 
3D 5 



58 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

shoulders, and committed a rape upon 
the auburn locks. This was set down 
by Mrs. George as a direct insult to her, 
who wished every body to believe she 
took infinite pleasure in studying to 
improve her daughter's beauty. 

At another time — when the chief re- 
sidence of Mrs. George was removed to 
the lodge, and she only occupied her 
apartment at the squire's, occasionally, 
the latter, on her driving into the court 
yard one morning, sent for an uphol- 
sterer to take down her bed. 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 59 

This was a new brutality , that drew 
fresh odium on the squire, who good- 
humoredly suffered malice to expend 
itself in invective, without even trou- 
bling the world with his motives. 

But it has since appeared, when the 
lady's levity subjected her conduct to 
inquiry, that she had compelled him to 
the act, by the situation in which she 
stood with the boy William j and that he 
was forbidden in future — by counsel 
learned in the law — to suffer his wife to 
sleep in the same house with him; and 
the more so, a& Mrs* George contrived 
d 6 



60 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

to lure the squire into her apartment, 
one night, when he was too much in- 
toxicated to be aware of the folly he 
committed. 

Whatever might have been the pri- 
vate wishes of the family in thus calling 
a meeting of its relatives to confxrm, or 
disannul, the reports in circulation, so 
seriously implicating the virtue of Mrs* 
George — it was found impossible to 
give concealment to that meeting; and 
as the particulars were — -as I have stated 
—withheld from the public— Gossip 
^agerly supplied the deficit. 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 61 

Reports, rumors, and fairy tales, all 
calculated to inflame the public mind 
against the young squire, were most in- 
geniously fabricated throughout the 
neighbourhood; stating — among other 
things — that he, the squire, with the 
aid and abetment of his friends, inti- 
mates, and dependants, did scanda- 
lously and maliciously enter into and 
contrive a most gross, vile, and scanda- 
lous conspiracy, tending to vilify, and 
to distort, by fiction, the innocent liber- 
ties which Mrs. George had indulged 
during her retirement — the which were 
found to be perfectly correct, and corre- 



62 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

spondent with her mode of education — 
as well as to establish, ultimately — by- 
perjury and subornation of perjury- 
high crimes and misdemeanors against 
the lady. 

With the reflecting mind, however, 
the squire will always be absolved both 
from malice and conspiracy. His situa- 
tion was extremely delicate — he felt it to 
be so — and was therefore neuter* . 

The fact is, that previously to the fa- 
mily communication, no one had posi- 
tively said — " Mrs. George Roy has .been 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 63 

" guilty of such, or such, a crimeP — It 
was only report j but report of so seri- 
ous a tendency, that the honor of the 
squire, and the rights of succession, 
demanded an explanation. 

Among the few, however, who ven- 
tured to defend the squire — and every 
body knows where there are women y 
there will be contradiction — I select the 
following conversation — 



" Surely," exclaimed Mrs. M- 



? 



* you cannot mean to defend her 

* cause?" 



64 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

a All I have to say on the subject,"' 
replied the lady, " is, that deserted as 
" she is, and bereft of every domestic 
*' bliss, it is impossible to contemplate 
cc her misfortunes without emotions of 
" pity." 

" Pray, my dear Madam," rejoined 

Mrs. M — , " does the desertion of 

cc a wife justify her becoming a liber- 
« tine?" 

u By no means; but can you believe 
€C the lady in question to be guilty P 
answered Mrs, . 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 65 

tc Believe it !" vociferated Mrs. M — ; 
" is there not a child: and is there not 
" a letter wherein she informs Mrs. 

" that no person but herself knew 

" she had been in a certain situation V 9 

" Such authority Mrs. — — thought 
" conclusive, and there for that day the 
" conversation ended; but in less than 
" a fortnight afterwards Mrs. M- 
'" repeated her visit, and being asked 
" how the business proceeded, exclaim- 
" id, M Don't ask me; I know so 
* c much that it is dangerous to speak" 



66 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

f* For Heaven's sake/' cried Mrs. 
■■, " tell me no family secrets, for 
" if you do I shall certainly betray them* 
" All I wish to know is, what will pro- 
bably be the end of the affair. " 



cc 



" It will all end very well," replied 

Mrs. M with a degree of non-cha- 

lance almost incredible. 

* Did you not tell me of a child and 
" a letter ? — How can it be very well?" 
was the natural question of Mrs. 



ROYAL ECL1PGE. 67 

Now — let us consider the point dis- 
passionately. 

If the reports circulated by Colonel 
Randolph had proved base, scurrilous, 
or defamatory, was not the law open to 
redress the injured lady, and would not 
a jury have marked the infamous de- 
tractor by the excess of its damages? 
The world would also have shunnerl 
him as a pest to society. 

Is it then the fault of the squire, if 
the Colonel is pure? — No one can with 
truth aver, that the squire took any 



68 ROYAL ECLIfSE. 

means to shield him from punishment. 
On the contrary, when it was proposed 
to inquire into the nature of the charges 
supposed to exist against Mrs. George — 
one of the squire's brothers was deputed 
by his father to wait upon the lady— to 
explain with all possible delicacy the na- 
ture of the inquiry, which had as much 
for its object as possible, the restoration 
of her fame. 

Mrs, George conducted herself, at this 
visit, with a degree of candor, that seemed 
to offer assurance of her innocence: and 
so far from resisting the wishes of the 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 69 

family to examine her servants, she 
nobly exclaimed — 

" From this moment, I discharge all 
my household." 

There was magic in these sounds, 
that operated like a charm upon the ear 
of all her neighbours. " They knew her 
" to be innocent — now, nobody could 
" doubt it — what a triumph over the 
" vile squire !" 

All, therefore, that a busy meddling 
neighbourhood could do, wh^i they 



70 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

found their darling hopes to be disap- 
pointed, was to hurt the squire's Feelings 
— and there, I fear, they too well suc- 
ceeded. 

But what was the result of all this 
clamor? 

Nothing — The Colonel maintains his 
rank in society — the lady retired to her 
lodge — and the squire continued his 
amusements without troubling his head 
about his wife — neither acquitting nor 
condemning her. 



ROYAL ECLIPSE/ 71 

This mystery gave offence to every 
body — for what can be a greater crime 
than to excite curiosity, and then leave 
the persons so excited to the pleasures of 
s us pence? 

Meanwhile the little William became 
an object — if possible— of increased in- 
terest with his tender-hearted patroness, 
who would kiss him rapturously, as 
they gambolled together, on the carpet, 
and assure him, he would some day or 
other make a great noise in Westmin- 
ster Hall. 






72 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

Charlotte had now attained her ele- 
venth year, and was the admiration of 
every body. Her proficiency in music, 
dancing, and drawing, was the theme of 
universal panegyric; but her studies 
were, by no means, confined to these 
outward, though elegant, accomplish* 
ments. Her mind was richly stored 
with literature, and the Graces seemed 
to have marked her for their own. She 
was a great favorite with all the family; 
but particularly so, with her grand- 
father. 

The squire was proud in the pos- 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 73 

session of this beauteous treasure; and 
his family, more urgently than ever, 
sought how they could best preserve her 
birthright from future perplexities. 

Another family meeting was con- 
vened, and the ablest law opinions taken 
as to the steps they should—in duty to 
this lovely child — pursue. 

The scandal-mongers now panted 
with renewed hopes of coming at the 
Whole secret j and pending the momen- 
tous disclosure, they amused themselves 
with throwing as much odium as they 



74 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

could upon the squire — by any means, 
no matter how — provided they were 
new; but whether false, or true, was an 
object beneath their obliging consider- 
ation. 

It may appear surprising that no satis- 
factory information had hitherto been 
obtained from the servants employed 
about the person of Mrs. George ; who 
must have known how things went on ; 
but if Mrs. George paid them better for 
holding their tongues, than others of- 
fered to pay them for tattling, that sur- 
prize is easily removed. 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. *75 

But — as it will be seen — there were 
engines at work as well to restore, 
as to preserve the lady's reputation; 
and it was contrived, by the following 
means, to smuggle her, once more, into 
the apparent protection of the family. 

Several meetings had taken place re- 
specting Mrs, George's conduct, when 
the squire was, one morning, very sud- 
denly informed, by the secretary, that 
the lawyers had given their final opinion 
on the case, and begging to know when 
he would be at leisure to receive the 
proceedings. 

e 2 



76 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

The squire was at his town residence, 
and replied — f* Immediately." 

On delivery of the papers, the secre- 
tary pressed to know, when he might 
have the honor to call for the squire's 
decision. 

" That 5 ' — »said the squire — " cannot 
* 6 be so readily determined." 

The secretary bowed, and took leave. 

The urgency of this demand will ap- 
pear to have been founded in good po- 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 7/ 

licy, and that Mrs. George had found the 
ivay to make the secretary her friend. 

An annual family festival was soon to 
take place, at which it was the custom 
of the manor to throw open its doors to 
all visitors :< — Mrs. George had em- 
ployed every possible female artifice to 
force herself into this party, confiding in 
the popularity she still maintained in the 
neighbourhood, and feeling assured, if 
her presence were, once, so sanctioned by 
the family, she might snap her fingers at 
the squire, and set him and his law* 
yers at defiance. 

e 3 



78 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

The old gentleman was bending to- 
ward his grave, and had been worried^ 
by false representations of her inno- 
cence, into a promise to receive his 
daughter-in-law, provided his son con- 
sented. To effect this consent was, 
therefore, the object of her mysterious 
agency- — In short, the consent was 
forged! 

"Whatever the motives of the squire 
in persisting to withhold from the pub- 
lic an official detail of the pro's and 
con's established by these two several 
meetings, they were, at all events, at- 
tended with one evil consequence. 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 79 

As partial circumstances were confi- 
dentially whispered — the world, previ- 
ously determined to favor Mrs. George, 
treated them all as scandal; whereas, the 
publication of an official document must 
have silenced even the tongue of male- 
volence. 

Knowing what I do, and writing 
what I have written, I certainly may 
venture this assertion, although I am 
persuaded, for the reasons already as- 
signed, there are many persons who 
will be pleased to doubt every sentence 
I have penned. 

s 4 



80 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

The best reason, perhaps, to be given 
in favor of the squire's silence is, that, 
as he very properly took no part in the 
proceedings, he was not bounden to 
come forward, and say — 

u I acquit my wife of all the foolish 
" rumors which foolish people have ut- 
" tered to her prejudice — her honor is 
" unimpeachable" 

And yet, I am persuaded, from the 
many noble, generous, and disinterested 
traits which have formed prominent 
features in the squire's character, even in, 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 81 

his most dissolute moments, that had he 
been satisfied of his wife's innocence — 
had he felt that she had erred from 
education — not principle — he would have 
been the first to have proclaimed her 

GUILTLESS. 

If then she were guilty — it may be 
asked — -why not sue for a divorce ? 

As the mere historiographer of a sin- 
gular event in private life — not ac- 
quainted even with the parties, but 
relying on the goodness of my infor- 
mation — I do not presume to look into 
e 5 



82 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

the mind of the squire, or assume the 
privilege of disclosing his private 
thoughts : but, I may assert, worldly ob- 
servation daily teaches us, that a husband 
may be convinced of the infamy of his wife; 
and yet not be able to bring such evidence 
into courts a $ 'would incontrovertibly fix the 
indelible stain upon the culprit # . And I 

* Within these few months, the lovely Lady 

II was detected in a very aukward situation 

by one of the Rangers of Hyde Park; and 
though the discovery was productive of a very 
handsome douceur to the green-coated gentle, 
man — he could not rest till he had communicated 
his good fortune to some of his good friends. It 
2 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 83 

fancy it needs no ghost to warn us all, 
that the husband who goes into court — 

was a morceau pour la bonne douche, and soon 
became the topic of fashionable chit-chat — with 
— J c Who could have believed it?"— " So inno- 
u cently demure in her deportment." — u And 
u then, so unfashionably in love, as she always 
u appeared, with her Lord." — Ci It cannot be 
u true, and we will desire his Lordship not to 
" make himself uneasy by listening to such scan- 
's dalous tattle." 

In this amiable resolution, care was taken that 
Lord H should hear the anecdote, embel- 
lished as it was by circulation, His Lordship 
E 6 



84 royal Eclipse. 

as the accuser of his wife — and retires 
without having accomplished his pur- 
pose, exposes himself to the pity of his 
friends- — the scurrility of the lampoon- 
er — and the ridicule of the world. 

To resume my narrative. 

A few days after Mr. Secretary* had 

flew to the Ranger, arid by threats and bribery, 
learnt enough to satisfy his own mind of the fact. 
But as the proof was not enough for Doctors* 
Commons — he was prudently silent, and laughed 
at the story as a good joke. 

* Not the Secretary of the H- D . 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 85 

— for reasens best known to himself- — forged 
the representation made by him to the 
old gentleman ; and a few days prior to 
the festival already mentioned; the 
younger branches of the family were 
all engaged to meet in private celebra- 
tion of the birth-day of Mrs. Frederick — 
his second brother's wife — where, for 
the first time, it was intimated to the 
squire, that Mrs. George would, cer- 
tainly, be of their party on the Thurs- 
day following. 

The means by which this licence was 
procured, were also related to him* , ; 



86 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

With a smile of ineffable complacency, 
lie replied, 

" Well then, be it so— this imperti- 
" nent puppy of a secretary deserves 
" chastisement for attempting, by false- 
<c hood, to provoke a breach between 
" my father and myself— but I will be 
silent on the subject, and let the thing 
take its course — the issue will speak 
« for itself." 

The day arrived — Curiosity had col- 
lected many idlers around the entrance 
of the mansion, and expectation mingled 



u 



€€ 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 87 

with apprehension among the crowd, as 
it had frequently been asserted before, 
by the too-ready advocates of Mrsr 
George, that on such, or such a day, she 
would be received by the old gentleman 
and his family. 

Hope, however, soon grew into cer- 
tainty ; as one of the younger brothers 
who has, for some time, set up a party 
of his own against the squire, in testi- 
mony of his refined morality — arrived 
early, and was heard to order, that he 
should be informed the moment Mrs* 
George's carriage appeared, 



8 8 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

Every body was on tip-toe. Pre- 
sently the sound of wheels announced 
an approaching equipage. It was Mrs. 
George's — She was accompanied by a 
female friend ; but unattended by her 
accomplished daughter*. 

Her Cecisbeo appeared, and she was 
ceremoniously conducted to the pre- 
sence of her family, when she was ad- 
mitted to a morning visit.. 

Retiring, her gallant relation attended 
to her carriage. 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 89 

During this ceremony, the gaping 
crowd stood round the carriage with 
distended eyes and open mouths; but 
two coroneted landaus, filled with la- 
dies, having occupied a post in the back- 
ground, these Right Honorables* called 
aloud — " take off your hats — take off your 
« hats." 

At this signal, the gaping boors obey- 
ed, and testified their further approba- 
tion, by murmuring a sort of huzza. 



* The family of the C — —Is. 



90 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

For some time past, Mrs. George had 
forborne to appear in public; her entree 
therefore at the theatre — -on the same 
evening, still gallanted by her good 
brother-in-law — was unexpected and 
pleasing. 

I say pleasing, because every thing, in 
the shape of novelty, gives pleasure to 
the idle. At all events, her reception 
was very flattering. 

And now the opportunity was offered 
to her constant and zealous defenders to 
announce to the world, a confirmation 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 91 

of Mrs. George's innocence. Indeed, 
these obliging scribblers had often re- 
stored her reputation, by newspaper fic- 
tion — but, now — " oh, the thing was 
beyond all doubt.*' 



a 



To this latter sentence, I subscribe 
most heartily — It is elycnd all 
doubt — and I would advise the lady's 
best friends to remember the fallacy of 
appearances, and the language of the 
poet, 

u Nor all that glisters gold:" 

For notwithstanding the public en- 



92 ROYAL ECLIPSE. , 

thiiSiasm follows the deceitful stream, 
there may be found among the crowd 
some cold-blooded moralist, who, sur- 
veying the subject with the eye of rea- 
son, and debating it with candor, may 
exclaim,. 

" Where was the squire? — where hfe 
" younger brothers ? — where Mrs.Fre* 
•* derick?— on this momentous occa- 
" sion— - 

<c Would not a convinced husband 
" proudly partake the restoration of a 
* wife's honor?~~Would not his rela- 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 93 

<c tives eagerly flock round an injured 
" fejnale, to cheer her with their con- 
4C gratulations, and ornament her tri- 
" umph, with their presence?" 

Yet the warmest advocates of Mrs. 
George # will, surely, find it very sin- 
gular, that the squire should chuse this 
particular day to drive to a neighbour- 
ing race-course ; and that all his bro- 
thers — except the one noticed as the 

* I speak as though I had not disclosed the 
forgery to the reader, the same being a fact not 
•at all known to the public, 



i 



94 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

lady's champion— should also find par- 
ticular engagements to prevent their par- 
taking in this grand and national men- 
tal festival. Even the mild, amiable, 
and humane Mrs. Frederick— who gives 
the tear of pity, and the alms of bene* 
volence, to all suffering humanity — has 
felt herself— in propriety-*— compelled to 
stay at home on this occasion. 

I say — there are characters, so mo* 
rosely compounded, as to doubt the 
mere evidence of popularity, thus, un- 
substantiated by facts — popularity, that, 
without rhyme or reason, will conduct 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 95 

to the gibbet, to-morrow, the idol to 
whom it yesterday erected a statue. 
And although I speak on the broader 
grounds of conviction, I would appeal 
to common sense- in contradiction to 
public obstinacy, on this head, unsup- 
ported by the discoveries I have occa- 
sionally laid open to the reader. And 
lest John Bull — constitutionally 
stubborn — should resolve not to be 
convinced, I will make another appeal 
to his understanding. 

In all large families, birth-days are fre- 
quent. It so happened, then, that with- 



96 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

in the month, the birth-day of Mrs. 
Roy claimed the annual tributes of filial 
respect from her children; on which 
occasion, all the family was accustomed 
to assemble, and pass their evening in 
private cheerful mirth. 

Was it not, then, to be expected, that 
the blackamoor washed white would be 
invited to the party ? 

'Tis a comprehensive question — and 
when I add, that her husband and her 
daughter— his brothers and his sisters, 
were all assembled in commemoration 



I 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 97 

of a beloved parent's birth, the marked 
absence of Mrs. George — studiously un- 
invited — speaks volumes to her dis- 
grace. 

Afflictions of a domestic nature, also, 
about this time, called — if it had been 
possible to have attended to the call — 
on the warmest consolations from the 
family. Mrs. George had, recently, 
lost her father. 

jrl rather think, that I ought sooner to 
have spoken of the lady's family abroad; 
it will not, however, be uninteresting, at 



98 ROYAL ECLIPSE* 

this passage, to state the necessary par- 
ticulars. 

Mr. Roy, the elder, had only one 
surviving sister, who married a general 
officer in the service of a foreign prince, 
with whom she resided abroad. 

Hence it arose, that Mrs. George was 
educated on the Continent, and why 
her father - in - law — compassionately 
viewing her as a foreigner, and his 
niece — should so easily become the dupe 
of the imposition practised on him. 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 99 

The General was a very distinguished 
soldier, and died nobly defending the 
cause of our allies. 

On this melancholy occasion, it be* 
came the wish of her widowed mother 
to return to England. She expressed 
these wishes to her brother, and apart- 
ments were, actually, in preparation for 
her reception, but it would have been a 
severe addition to her domestic sorrows, 
to have witnessed the disgrace of a fallen 
daughter — she, therefore, deferred her 
return. 

f 2 



100 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

These circumstances form an affect- 
ing appeal to the feeling mind ; which, 
aided by a prevalent opinion of their 
being founded on inju tice, naturally ex- 
cited the sympathies of every philan- 
thropist. 

Her mourning habit on the day she 
visited the family mansion — her live- 
ries, hammercloth, and trappings of 
the same sable hue, aided by a certain 
well-assumed despondency of manner, 
were Utile aids well calculated to till up 
'the measure of her popularity. 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 101 

Let us, now, canvass the spirit of this 
popularity — What says the fashionable 
harbinger of scandal in behalf of its fa- 
vorite protegee ? 

«-# Yesterday Mrs. George Roy paid 

u her compliments to her husband's fa- 

" mily at the mansion : she was sup- 

" ported by the arm of her brother in 

" law Mr. Augustus, and attended by 

" Mrs. Endstown — both of whom have 

" been particular in their attachment to 

" this most interesting lady since her 

* Not literally — but to this effect. 
F3 



102 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

% . 

" first marriage ; and more particularly 
" so, during the recent trying circum- 
" stances. The attentions of Mr. Au- 
c£ gustus, in thus persevering to mairk 
" his disbelief of the infamous attacks 
€4 made on Mrs. George, do equal ere- 
" dit to him as a brother and a man. 
€C The attachment of Mrs. Endstown— 
" though more humble— has not been 
" less exemplary, 

" Mrs. George's arrival was hailed 
u with the most gratifying, and most 
" universal demonstrations of heartfelt 
" joy. Her reception was truly flatter- 



ROYAL ECLIPSE.. 103 

" ing ; and, as she passed out, the most 

" distinguished among the neighbour- 

u ing gentry, assembled on the occa- 

" sion, were eager in their congratu- 

" lations, 

" May these honours be lasting as 
" they are just ! — Such will ever be the 
" wish of all who resent the calumnies 
" which have been permitted to ob- 
" scure the fair fame of the lovely 
" stranger ; and it will be equally their 
" task to exert themselves in dispelling 
" the clouds with which hen exalted 
f4 



104 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

" worth has been, so artfully, over- 
■ <c cast. 

c What a triumph to Mrs. George ! 
u , . . What a humiliation to her de- 
a tractors ]". ... .... 

The unexpected appearance of Mrs. 
George — still on the arm of her amiable * 

* It is a strong proof of the lady's grateful 
disposition, that she not only considers this 
amiable brother inlaw, a mere Marplot; but 
avows the sentiment. 

" Poor boy ! — he is a great fool ; but very at- 
<f ~ tentive to me, for all thai." 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 105 

brother in law at the theatre *, 

in the evening, afforded the editor of 



> 



* When Madame cle Pompadour's influence 
was on the decline, and every female ingenuity 
was at work to regain her power, a successful 
artifice introduced her to the presence of her 
royal lover ; who, however, received her very 
coolly. Elated, notwithstanding, at the ad- 
vantages she might take of this temporary con- 
descension, by throwing dust into the Parisians' 
:>, she resolved on appearing in state at the 
ian Opera, on the same evening. A message 
, therefore, sent to the manager, to signify 
her intention, and desiring to know at which * 
door she would be received, (she having been , 
F 5 



106 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

the same fashionable publication , new 
subject for his sublime admiration. 

accustomed to enter at the king's door ; ) when 
she appeared with her suite. 

The manager requested time ere he could re- 
ply — and having, in the mean while, applied, 
officially, to know how he should act, sent in 
answer, that Madame de Pompadour ^ as the #c- 
fctiozeledged mistress of the king, would find pro- 
per attendants, at any door to which she might 
be pleased to present herself. 

Discomfited by this unexpectedly cooi reply, 
the lady w r ent, privately , to the Opera. 

I should add, that her spirit for intrigue was 

2 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 107 

He dwells, most feelingly , on the uni- 
versal rapture which the lady's presence 
communicated to every individual bo- 
som. — He describes the public marks of 
cordial approbation that greeted her 



so well known, and the popularity she still un- 
worthily preserved, was so much dreaded, that 
the manager concealed the knowledge of the fa- 
voritrfs intention, and changed the most popular 
entertainments, which had been advertised for 
the evening, into a paltry opera, to which he 
hoped no one would take the trouble to come— 
and this, evidently, to avoid any public tumult 
f?om party influence, or hireling cabal. 

f6 



108 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

arrival — the impressive return made by 
Mrs. George— who was much affect- 
ed with their goodness in oppressing her 
with such flattering marks of general 
esteem — so unanimously bestowed ! 
- — and concludes with assuring us 9 " that 
" although her dress was ornamented 
" with a rich display of brilliant orna- 
" Hients, the lustre of restored 
£C honor beamed round her person 
ft with a splendor exceeding all the 
" pomp of outward decoration, and 
" wholly eclipsing the dazzling blaze 
" of her jewels." 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. .109 

What a pity it is, that Mrs. George 
could not — likewise — get herself smug- 
gled, by hook or by crook, to the en- 
tertainment given in B — shire in honor 
of Mrs. Roy's birth-day !— It would 
have made so pretty a paragraph, and 
would, I have no doubt, have been in- 
serted, as gratuitously, as all the 
former puffing paragraphs so industri- 
ously and so loudly trumpeting forth 
her praise, 

" Is the squire dead to all feeling 55 -^ 
it may be asked — " or above all praise — - 
" that he so supinely bears these indirect 



110 ROYAL ECLIPSE* 

cc censures on himself, and forbears*,, 

u when chastisement, more direct, is 

" levelled at him by the united malig- 

" nancies of a host of anonymous 

u writers?' 5 

To which I reply — 

Neither! — Content in the conscious 
rectitude of his conduct, he disdains 
either to purchase the praise, or avert 
the scurrillity of any venal scribbler r 
he leaves to time the developement of 
circumstances, which, by the bye, have 



• 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. Ill 

been as mysteriously withheld from 
public adjudication by either party. 

An official copy of the whole pro- 
ceedings was sent to Mrs. George — not 
very respectfully indeed, as the lawyer, 
whose office it was, most ungallantly, 
despatched a livery servant with the 
sealed packet ; when, it is believed, the 
lady thought it would have become him 
to have presented it in person. 

The packet, however, was delivered 
— Give me leave then — dispassionate 
reader! — for to none other do I ad- 



112 ROYAL ECLIPSE, 

dress niyself— to ask this simple ques- 
tion— 

Is there any law, usage, or custom, 
in Great Britain — so blessed in its con- 
stitution ! — to prevent a female — of 
whatever rank — whose conduct has be- 
come the subject of legal inquiry, from 
laying before the public the official re- 
sult of that inquiry ? 

I believe not— and when such is fa- 
vourable to the party supposed to be ag- 
grieved, I rather think I may venture 
to assert— she would publish it. 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 113 

Economy is no ap fogy for with- 
holding it, as any b< :>kseller would 
do well to give a thousand guineas — 
perhaps two — for such a manuscript. 

I shall transcribe a brief detail of Mrs. 
George's sufferings, since her marriage, 
from the pen of a partial friend. 

" It appeared as if our Squire was in 
" a state of second dotage. If he re- 
cc ally had been drawn in to marry Mrs. 
" F # , he had been guilty of a 

* I have not noticed this supposed marriage 



214 KOYAL ECLIPSE. 

" most egregious piece either of du- 
" plicity or folly, as he must have been 
" very well aware that the marriage was 
" contrary to the established law *. 

u Although Joan may be as good as 
a my Lady in the dark, yet every Joan 
" is not a lady in the face of open day. 



in my Memoir. — If the squire bad an attach* 
ment before marriage, the greater the compli- 
ment to his wife, for whom he broke it, and the 
higher his claim on her future good conduct* 

* Thetody was a catholic. 



HOYAL ECLIPSE. 115 

" If after having married Mrs, F — ~, 
" he gave his hand to another lady, he 
u was guilty of a very great crime, for 
" which he had no excuse to allege, but 
" that of having forfeited his own word 
" of honor. 

" If, as appeared to be the case from 
" subsequent events, the separation be- 

" tween himself and Mrs. F was 

" preconcerted, with a view only to re- 
u lieve him from his difficulties, and 
u then to renew their intimacy, it was 

* a most cruel and indecent deception. 

* Let the reader turn his eye, which- 



116 BOYAL ECLIPSE. 

" ever way he will, he must see folly 
" and dishonor, if not deception and 
" cruelty. 

" It might have been expected that 
" the unfortunate Mrs, George had suf- 
- c fered enough, by having been^ thus 
a publicly, cast off by her husband. 

a But — no !• — her enemies appeared 
w resolved to crush her, or to drive her 
cc away. A new conspiracy, from an- 
" other quarter, or a continuation of 

that which had separated her from 
% conjugal endearment, was still to be 



EOYAL ECLIPSE. 117 

" played off against her, by those who 

" were constantly about her person, 

" and whose faces were covered with 

" smiles and affabilities : 

u O Conspiracy, 
u Sham'st tliou to show thy dang'rous brow by 

night, 
u When evils are most free ? O then, by day 
f< Where wilt thou find a cavern dark enough 
** To mask thy monstrous visage? Seek none. 

Conspiracy: 
u Hide it in smiles and affabilities : 
u For if thou put thy native semblance on, 
6< Not Erebus itself were dim enough 
** To hide thee from detection." 

Shakspeare. 



118 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

cc She was to be deprived of every 
" friend, of all esteem and respect, in 
" a distant country, and subject to de- 
cc rision and ridicule. The most scan- 
" dalous reports were spread abroad to 
u prejudice her person * and manners, 
" which could only have originated 
" with female tongues — who those 
cc were, we know not ; but people will 



* I have heard of ladies clearing their com- 
plexions, by means of issues ; but do not exact- 
ly understand the author's meaning, unless he 
alludes to the characteristic filth of foreign 
habits. 



KOYA-L ECLIPSE. 119 

iC surmise, and the galled ox will 
" wince. 

" The persecuted Mrs. George find- 
M ing herself thus deserted by her pro- 
u per protector, without any reason * ; 
" surrounded by supplanting and slan- 
" dering enemies, almost wholly un- 
" acquainted with the sympathetic and 
" feeling hearts of the public, and 
" afraid to trust any one — sought to 
" confide her sorrows to the bosom of 
" her parents, or some other relations 

* 1 presume the author means assigned reason* 



120 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

c< \ or friends whom she had left in those 
u distant parts whence she came. 

" This was natural — and more deli- 
" cate* than if she had made her com- 
" plaints nearer home. A packet of 
" letters to her friends was confided to 
? the hands of a person who was going 
" that way ; and for whom she enter- 
" tained, and, in all probability, had 
" no reason to entertain, any suspicion 
" of dishonorable conduct. 

* The reader must admit this to have been the 
ucmQ oi delicacy. 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 121 

" The packet, however, by a train 
" of artifices, which must have been 
" the result of long experience in the 
" winding passages of intrigue, an£ of 
" premeditated design, was got out of 
" the hands of the person with whom 
u it was intrusted, and in contempt of 
" every thing like honor, honesty, or 
" good faith, violated. 

" It was discovered, that the intend- 
" ed victim of this confederacy, in that 
" bitterness of anguish and agony of 
" mind which she must have experi- 
4< enced, and which, in the strongest 

G 



122 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

C4 minds, will often create suspicion 
'"_ when there is not the least occasion 
■" for it, had written some things w 7 hich 
6C must be displeasing to the family. 

u As the correspondence could only 
" have been intercepted by an enemy, 
" and for the most inimical purposes, 
'" the malignant fiend contrived, with 
'" the same subtlety through which the 
" packet had been gotten possession of, 
cc to lay the contents before the family, 
<l without appearing before the cur- 
" tain. 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 123 

" The correspondence was intercept- 
"" ed — was violated-— was made public 
U — but nobody did it. 

" As was expected, a breach was 
<c made between Mrs. George, and her 
" father and mother in law, who ex- 
ic pected more honorable mention than 
" what some of the passages con- 
c ? tained. 

cc As the correspondence was intend- 
" ed, solely, for the private eye of re- 
" lationship, or friendship, and was 
" disclosed by such unfair means, in- 

G 2 



224 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

" stead of the resentment which fell 

" upon the writer 5 it might have been 

" proper if the malignant discloser had 

" been feretted out, and overwhelmed 

" with contempt and indignation # . 

" As the heads of the family had too 
" just a sense of decorum and propriety 
" to show a coolness to their daughter 
" in law, without assigning a reason 
" for it, the treachery, which had oc- 
" casioned it, came to light. 

* Admirable casuist ! 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 125 

" It was, indeed, suspected that the 
" perpetrators had not been able to 
" veil themselves, so securely, but that 
" they were discovered, and despised 
u by those whom they had irritated 
" against the object of their malice; 
" but there is that delicacy in polite life 
" which makes them tender of expos- 
" ing each other to the grin and con- 
u tempt of the Swinish Multitude. 

u However, the unsuspecting person 

" to whom the packet had been en- 

" trusted, could not rest under the ob- 

" loquy of having acted treacherously, 

g 3 



128 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

u and by justifying himself, Mrs. Vil- 
" lars was found to have been concern- 
" ed in some stage of the proceedings j, 
u —whether innocently or not 5 could 
" only be surmised from what was suf- 
" fered to transpire of this dark at 
« fair. 

" Some correspondence took place 5 in 
iC which Mr. Villars attempted the jus- 
" tificationof his wife. 

" We say attempted ; — for although 
" the correspondence was published., it 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 12? 

ct threw not the least light upon the 
* affair. 

" The world thought it w ild 1 
" been better to have made no de- 
" fence*, than so lame. a one. 

* Mrs. George appears to have been wholly 
guided by this opinion ; in the concealment she 
has practised — leaving to doult, the innocence 
she could not establish. 

The old adage may apply to this sentiment, so 
ill-judged from a friend — Making a rod to zvhip 
yourself 

Or as the facetious Sherry said of the Ex 
G 4 



128 P.OYAL ECLIPSI. 

c ° Conscious innocence Is often con- 
u tented with a knowledge that it is 
" innocent, and with a hope that it will 
" at a future day be proved so ; but 
" conscious guilt is ever anxious to as- 
" sume the appearance of innocence ', and 
"... often betrays itself by that very an- 
" xiety. It cannot endure 

« The thought 
u Men's tongues will say of what their hearts 

must think." 

M» *— y. I have heard of men running their 

heads against a wall, ready built ; but this is the 
first time that men ever built the wall purposely 
to run their heads against it* 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 129 

" By this shocking conspiracy, for so 
u it must have been, whoever were the 
" persons concerned in it, an unhappy 
" misunderstanding took place between 
" the persecuted object of it and her 
" husband's family, which lasted du- 
cc ring several years. Her only conso- 
" lation was the being left in possession 
u of her child, and the respect and 
" esteem which the world evinced for 
" her, in proportion as she seemed to 
<c be deserted by her nearest relatives. 

w She upbraided not — she complained 
<; not' — but supported her misfortunes 
g 5 



ISO ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

" with that dignity and fortitude which 
u is inspired by a mens conscia recti, and 
" never suffered the affability of her 
" temper to be soured by them *... 

u That part of the Squired conduct 
" which we are next to consider was 
" enveloped in mystery. 

" His wife's character was called into 
u question in a most unwarrantable— 
a and we will add, a most wanton man- 

* This gentleman is a most agreeable biogra- 
pher. Any lady in want of a reputation will do 
well to apply. 



ROYAL ECLIPSE, 131 

" ner — since there was not the least 
" shadow of a proof of the crime 
" which was alleged against her. 

" She was accused of infidelity ; but 
" by whom — -with whiom — when — 
" where — could never be brought for- 

o 

" ward. 

" Report said, that the accusations 
u were contained in a letter written by 
" a certain .gentleman and lady, who* 
M however, publi 1 enied any know- 
" ledge of such an affair. 

o 6 



J 32 ( ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

cc Through whatever channel the in- 
" formation might have come — or 
" whether there were any such, or not 
" -—it was certain that such a scandal- 
u ous rumor was buzzed about, and 
**■ a very respectable character * thought 

* The advice given upon this occasion was 
from the lips of a most respectrble and able 
lawyer, an old and staunch friend to the family ; 
who, foresee! ng-r-no doiibt^the magnitude of 
the question, as it might relate to future inhe- 
ritance, wished all mystery to-be removed* 

That this gentleman was disinterested in his 
■counsel, all will believe, when it is remembered,. 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 133 

" proper to advise, for the good of pos- 
" terity, and the satisfaction of the 
" public in general, as well as out of 
#" justice to the character of Mrs. 
" George, that some inquiry should be 
* instituted into the reports so injuri- 
" ous to her honor. 



tliat he once staunchly supported the elder Mr. 
Roy 5 under a temporary embarrassment, con- 
firming his attachment with these remarkable 
words, 

u When I desert my friend, may God desert 



be 



184 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

"This advice was, in. part, pursued: 
" but the result was never suffered to 
" transpire to the public. 

" What could be concluded from this 
" secrecy ? Why — out of that charity 

which is inherent to every honest li- 
" beral mind, towards a person accused 
u of a crime, particularly one of the 
" fairest and weakest sex— out of that 
* 4 amiable rule of law, which directs 
" that where there is the least shadow 
" of doubt, the accused person should 
64 be acquitted — We must say, that the 
u accusation, if any w r ere made— or if 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 135 

" not — the rumor was false, scandalous, 
" and malicious. 



" If this be our rule of judgment, in 
"- cases where an open and manly accu- 
" sation is made, and, perhaps, only 
u fails of being substantiated through 
" the want of some trifling, though ne- 
u cessary, legal proof, does it not ap- 
" ply more forcibly to a case, when the 
" accuser dare not show his face, nor 
" avow his name ; or the alleged crime 
" is only founded upon the tongue of 
4 * rumor, perhaps envenomed by envy^ 
* jealousy, or revenge ? 



136 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

"- Certainly. 

cc As the scandal had got abroad 
u into the public ear, why was not the 
4C lady's innocence — if she were inno- 
" cent— proclaimed as loudly ? Such a 
u justification was her due — she had an 
"' undoubted right to demand it. 

l€ But the unfortunate lady was from 
" home — she had no protector; for her 
" husband, her natural protector, had 
w not only deserted her, but he never 
" stirred in the affair, as if the honor 
^ or dishonor of his wife was not of the 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 137 

a smallest consequence to him. She 
•" had no friends, for her enemies had 
" set all her husband's family against 
u her — and that she must have had the 
" bitterest enemies was evident from 
" the diabolical and shameful reports 
" which had been spread to the preju- 
" dice of her person and chastity. 

" What could she do in such a 
c * dreadful predicament ? 

a Why — rely on a magnanimous, 
" just, brave, and generous commu- 
" nity to scout the villainous reports, 



138 ROYAL ECLIPSE^ 

" and hold up the authors of them to 
" detestation. 

cc She did so — and she found that she 
" did not repose her fame on a broken 
u reed. 

" The community respected her the 
c< more for the intolerable injuries and 
" insults which had been heaped upon 
" her, and which she had borne with 
" an amiable resignation, though, at 
" the same time, with all the fortitude 
** of conscious innocence, and all the 
<c - contempt of insulted dignity.. 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 139 

-" It execrated the authors of her suf- 
" ferings, and would have rejoiced to 
€€ have seen them dragged forth to 
" public view, and suffering the extre- 
u mity which the law could inflict on 
" their infamous designs. And as they 
" passed — 

ei The crowded way would sound 
H With hissing scorn, and murmuring detest- 
ation : 
** The latest annals would record their shame; 
" And when th' avenging Muse 5 with pointed 

rage, 
i; Would sink some impious woman down to hell, 
u She'd say — she's false— she's base-*-she's foul 
as. .... , 



140 HOYAL ECLIPSE. 

" Those, who are guilty, will make 
" the application, 

" We shall now inquire into the 
" passive kind of conduct maintained 
" by the Squire on this unpleasant oc- 
u casion. 

<c Although every man of sense and 

u feeling must have approved of his 

" not pressing matters against his wife ; 

u yet it is impossible that they could 

a have entertained a similar opinion of 

" his observing the same passive con- 

" duct in not publicly justifying her, 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 141 

<c by showing her some token of es- 
" teem , if not of returning love. 

" We cannot command our passions 
" or emotions, whether of affection 
" or antipathy ; but it is our duty to 
" keep them within the bounds of de- 
" cency. A single visit — nay, a single 
" formal complimentary inquiry into 
" the state of her health, would have 
" been sufficient to evince to the public 
" his disbelief, or rather his moral % cer- 

* Is not moral certainty founded on self con- 
viction ? The one, therefore, must precede the 
other. 



142 ROYAL ECLIPSE, 

" tainty of the infamy of the aceusa- 
'" tion or report. But he did nothing 
u of the kind. 

" We say—evince to the public^ for 
'" they had a right to know the result 
u of the inquiry. It might be said, 
€C that the inquiry was not a legal one j 
u but only of a private nature to satisfy 
" the parties themselves ; but if it was 
not intended either fully to justify 
c the accused lady ; or, if there were 
cc grounds for it, to bring matters to a 
" legal issue, it was appointed for no 
<c end at all 



■a 



a 



TIOYAL ECLIPSE. 143 

" Where was the delicacy of this my- 
a stery ? 

" As matters stood, the malignity of 
" her enemies recoiled upon themselves, 
" and her character shone the brighter 
" for it. Every iota of what had been 
" propagated in her disfavor, not only 
" in the present instance, but on the 
" occasion of the separation, was to- 
" tally disbelieved. Her reputation 
<c was afterwards rendered as white as 
u snow ; but unhappily by another and 
^ most dreadful calamity *. 

* Alluding to the much lamented death of ths 



144 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

" Although the parties of inquiry, on 
" the most rigid investigation, must 
" have acquitted her of the least levity 
" in her conduct — as was apparent from 
" her renewing her visits to her hus- 
64 band's family — yet that justice which 
" would have been most grateful to her 
" amiable — and, perhaps, in spite of 
a all her wrongs— doating heart : 

that justice, for the want of which, 



cc 



brave general, Mrs. George's father — a charac- 
ter whose memory will live, as long as valour 
and military talent are respected . 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 145 

" the esteem of all the rest of the 
" world would not have made her 
" amends — that heart, for the loss of 
" which, all the hearts in the universe 
" could not have recompensed her — - 
" that justice and that heart were still 
" denied her * ! 

" But there is another and a better 
" world for some folks whose reckon- 
" ings are clear — and another and a 
" worse world for other folks whose ac- 
" count will not bear them through ! 



! C€ Praise undeserved — is satire in disguise." 

Pope. 
H 



a 



146 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

" We will accuse no one — we will 
not judge the adultresses, who have 
" laboured openly and secretly to sow 
u disunion and discord in a family, and 
" to supplant a most amiable and af- 
cc fectionate wife in the love and es- 
" teem of her husband ; that would be 
" to arrogate to ourselves a privilege of 
". the Supreme Being. But as the 
" Scriptures enjoin us to render to Caesar 
" what is Coesar's due, we may reason- 
" ably presume that the Almighty will 
€C take especial care, that the Devil shall 
€i have his own /" 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 147 



I do not propose, invidiously, or 
otherwise, to draw any comparison be- 
tween my own Memoir and that which 
I have borrowed from the flattering pen 
of Mrs. George's biographer, for I am 
not influenced by any personal enmity 
against the lady, nor have I view, or 
advantage, in detracting from her good 
name, 

h2 



148 ROYAL ECLIPSE* 

But, as a rational being, consi- 
dering the story before me, as involving 
a question of great import — the right 
of inheritance— I feel that I am correct 
in delivering my opinion upon it, and 
adducing such testimony as may have 
reached my knowledge — no matter 
how — in support thereof. 

Let candor, therefore, poise these op- 
posing scales — and strict impartiality de- 
cide the question — I shall not employ 
artifice to kick the beam. In the ar- 
rangement, I am governed by a rigid 

1 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 149 

sense of justice ; and from its fiat only 
would I seek a verdict. 



I should be sorry, however, to -pro- 
voke either the satire — the spleen — or 
the malignity of any cotemporary, in 
attempting to refute my positions ; but 
if any candid and impartial pamphleteer 
is disposed to step forward on the basis 
of reason — unvitiated by sophistry — to 
him I throw the gauntlet, and declare 
— most solemnly — I shall feel perfect sa- 
tisfaction in being convinced that I have 
erred. 

H 3 



150 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

Not to love woman is to be less than 
man — and, if it were otherwise, I should 
rank among the worst of sinners. 

Woman has been, through life, the 
object of my idolatry: and love, the 
object of my pursuit. But the ani* 
mated shrine before which I bend my 
vows must be as undeformed in mind, 
as person ; and the sentiment she breathes 
as pure as she is fair. 

Such love is chaste as it is. impas- 
sioned: it does not pursue the senses- 
it merely guides them : it casts a delicious 



ROYAL ECLIPSE* 151 

veil over the tremulous wanderings of 
the heart: it is always modest: it does 
not seize upon the wishes — but steals 
upon the softer agonies of bliss. Mys- 
tery and silence conceal, while they 
augment, the palpitating transports of 
the bosom — they purify each melting 
kiss — while chastity presides over the 
most voluptuous moments of the ex- 
istence. 

Such are— or ought to be-^-the charms 
of wedded love!. . . . the characteristic 
— and, perhaps, exclusive — talisman of 
British females! 

h4 



'152 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

But as I love-— I hate. . . . and most of 
all I loath the sainted demirep, or pas- 
sively contented cuckold, " who, proud 
" of his dishonor, turns pander to his 
44 wife, for favor or for hire 5 andlend- 
46 ing her first to my Lord, and then to 
u His Highness, opens an account cur- 
64 rent with infamy— himself the mean- 
"" est of the firm/ 5 

Yet have we seen such people dar- 
ingly claim homage from the public as 

their right! 

I would spurn them — even though 
they were diademed! 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 153 

Of the squire, I have yet a little more 
to say; although I do not mean to go 
beyond the general outline of his cha- 
racter. 

It would be an Augean labor to at- 
tempt to purify him from the filth and 
excrement of detraction — that hydra, 
whose prolific heads spring into new 
existence, as fast as they are lopped off, 
I am not of the school of chivalry — and 
decline the lists. I may, however, urge 
some few remarks. 

Every individual — however tumble 
n5 



154 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

his rank in society— becomes an object 
for the world to point at, from the 
moment any act of publicity chances to 
bring him before their tribunal. 

Thus, the man, whose better half h so 
very good as to involve him in a crim. 
con. does him, at same time, the addi- 
tional favor of exposing his every foi- 
ble, from the cradle, to the public dis- 
quisition; and venial errors, which in 
the circle of his acquaintance would be 
called the effervescences of human na- 
ture, before this rigid assembly are tor- 
tured into crimes innumerable. 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 155 

That the squire has taken as much 
latitude as morality, in her very best hu- 
mor ^ could allow him, I do not deny: 
but it is infamous to keep a register of 
the unguarded actions of a man's life — 
and every man, as well as every woman, 
has his unguarded moment — for the 
base purpose of tricking them out in 
the Monmouth-Street garb of a popular 
pamphlet. 

Who was ever more dissolute in 
youth, than Hal, the boon companion 
of the licentious, but witty, Falstaffr— 
and who ever made a better king? 

h6 



156 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

The heir apparent of his family's ho- 
nors may play the truant school-boy 
while his father guards the trust in* 
heritedfrom his ancestors — it is a sort of 
holiday, during which we are permitted 
to sport and gambol, as the fancy leads; 
and how often—independently of the 
example I have quoted — have the wild- 
est boys turned out to be the best fa- 
mily men* 

It may be urged, that the squire's 
boyhood is long since past — Granted — - 
but the record of the follies of that boy- 
hood is every day held up to public de- 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 157 

testation; or, at least, with a view 
thereto. 

Scandal-mongers ferret out anecdotes 
from holes and corners, with which they 
feed the public curiosity; and I blush to 
add, that while genius labors to 



IMPROVE MORALITY, AND STARVES 



IN THE ATTEMPT; THE VENALIST 
WHO PAMPERS PUBLIC DEPRAVITIES, 
AT THE EXPENSE OP INDIVIDUAL 
FEELINGS, PATTENS ON THE SPOILS 
OP INFAMY. 

Among the crimes alledged against the 



158 ROYAL ECLIPSE, 

squire, it is truly ridiculous to enumerate 
the following. 

Beautifying a marine cottage — build- 
ing an expensive stable— ordering a 
handsome carpet — selling his old massive 
plate to pay for a more modern ser- 
vice!!!! 

One affects to ridicule his accomplish- 
ments, and says, in mockery — " To 
" dance a minuet with grace — to take a 
<c part in a fashionable catch — to lounge 
" elegantly into the Opera.house — and 
" to possess a moderate acquaintance 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 159 

" with the living languages — will qua- 
" lify any high-born gentleman to be 
" gazed at, heard, and called accom- 
« plished." 

Another criminates him, through the 
medium of his friends and associates, 
whom he represents to be unworthy the 
intimacy of any gentleman. 

That he may have cultivated friend- 
ships unworthy the honor and confi- 
dence he has shewn them, I do not de- 
ny. Every nobleman and gentleman 
throughout the kingdom has done, pre- 



160 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

cisely, the same thing ; but, generally 
speaking, the squire numbers, among 
his friends, many of the most distin- 
guished characters in his neighbourhood 
— accomplished gentlemen, and men of 
honor, in the true sense of the word — 
and many of them of the most distin- 
guished abilities. 

I have ranged over foreign countries, 
and seen every thing to be seen in my 
own country. I have mixed with 
fashion, and been — ii*ke others — giddy 
in its maze — But the delusion is past* 
I am, now, too much a man of the 



KOYAL ECLIPSE. 161 

world to applaud a female because she 
has nerve to combat with disgrace, and 
unblushingly protects the semblance of 
the honor she has lost — nor will I, on 
ex parte evidence, condemn a man, who 
appears to have no champion to assert 
his rights. 

I have learnt to think for myself, and 
despise the prevalent machinery, by 
which persons of fashion are moved, as 
to action and opinion, like the puppets 
of a Fantoccini, by any eccentric idiot 
of rank, who has just genius enough to 
new-model a cap or a trinket j and ar* 



162 ROYAL ECLIPSE. ' 

rogates, from thence, the supremacy of 
Showman to the fashionable crowd- 
pointing at whom it shall be lawful to 
admire — whom condemn. 

But as the power* to which I disavow 
allegiance, may punish my temerity, by 
censuring my statement, I have thought 
it proper to reserve one incident which , 
as the rage of %pre*d$i$rmimd opposition 
expends itself, may chance to find a 
hearing, 

On the day of Mrs, George's pre- 
ientation, as it has been called, Colonel 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. l6$ 

Randolph appeared, purposely, in the 
circle of visitors, and placed himself, as 
near as etiquette would allow, to con- 
front the lady he had so much injured. It 
is true the company murmured some- 
thing like astonishment at the boldness 
of the manj but Mrs. Roy received him 
with distinction. 

Now, in the name of common sense, 
was it ever known, that the detractor of 
a lady's honor could be received as a 
welcome guest in her family, after that 
family was perfectly convinced of the 
injury and injustice he had wantonly 



164 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

and basely exercised toward their rela- 
tive, whom they again received as pure 
and spotless among them? 

By Heaven, I would shun such a man 
as I would poverty, disease, or famine; 
and so would every honest-hearted 
creature under the eun. 

But if the Colonel's correctness 

WantS FURTHER CONFIRMATION that 

confirmation may be found in a letter 
sent, to him, on the occasion, by order 
of the squire, to calm his jealous honor, 
and assure him it was respected* 



ROYAL ECLIPSE, 165 

The question of inheritance in- 
volves the best rights and dearest in- 
terests of every individual. To evade 
as much as possible the enforcement 
of pretended rights, the ceremony 
of marriage has been established under 
the most solemn, aud extended privi- 
leges. 

By marriage, our inheritance is clear 
— it is the bond of society, at large, as 
well as the bond of family union— -It 
marks the boundary of respect between 
the virtuous and the profligate — It saves 
the bloody appeal of arms, which might 



166 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

involve kingdoms in a civil war-r-It 
saves the less exalted classes of society 
from a ruinous appeal to law. 

According to the Romish religion, 
marriage is a sacrament, which no hu- 
man power can dissolve; but in Pro- 
testant churches, the divine law submits 
to human jurisdiction, and infidelity in 
the parties, publicly proved, disannuls 
the holy covenant. 

And why? 

To protect inheritance.— -Were it not 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 167 

so deemed expedient to prevent the vi- 
cious from engrafting a spurious pro- 
geny on the lawful representatives of 
family honors and family estates, prosti- 
tution might stalk abroad, in open day 
— glory in her infamy — and compel* 



* A lady of fashionable notoriety-- who, a 
few years since kept a gaming-table in one of 
the most fashionable squares, for the amusement 
of the fashionable world — was the mother of a 
large family, all of whom, it was remarked, were 
christened with sir-names. 

u Don't be surprised, my dear"— she one day 



i 



168 ROYAL ECLIPSJi. 

bastards to share an honorable inherit- 
ance. 

In the instance before us, every thing 

said to a bonne amie— - a ought not children to 
<c bear their fathers' names ?" 

Yet this lady's house was the nightly rendez- 
tous of haut ton after the Opera, where such as 
did not play, promenaded through the apart- 
ments—how d'ye do-ing with all the female rank 

of the kingdom. 

Girls, just come out, were taken to these 
fashionable orgies, notwithstanding the reputa- 
tion of the high priestess was well known. 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 169 

is to be apprehended; and as no argu- 
ment can be supported without a data — 
let it, therefore, be admitted, that the 
squire — whose health is naturally much 
impaired — may die during his daughter's 
minority: — that his father, old in years 
and in domestic virtues, may also be 
translated to the rich reward of a well- 
spent life, before his grand-daughter 
reaches her majority— Mrs. George is 
still young — may avow herself to be the 
mother of the boy— -may give the nurse's 
and the doctor's proof of her accouche- 
ment, and subsequent proofs of the in- 
fant's identity. 



170 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

What then? 

Will there not be a doubtful inherit- 
ance? — Must not the Minor's Estate 
be vested in a trust? — May not a young- 
er brother aspire to possession ?-—May 
he not employ desperate means to fulfil 
his ambition? — May he not color that 
ambition with the gloss of justice? — May 
not 

The evil is incalculable.. ..... but I 

would awaken the slumberer to convic- 
tion Reader ! — let your under- 
standing mediate between perspi- 
1 



ROYAL ECLIPSE. 171 

cuity and the perverseness which 
governs you — Assume the prerogative 
of nature — 

THINK FOR YOURSELF! 

" If I am deemed reprehensible for 
44 having impressed, in strong language, 
" my abhorrence of offences, which, by 
44 their tendency, are fatal: — If it should 
44 be deemed criminal to reprobate, with 
44 an indignation proportioned to the 
44 magnitude of that danger, the fla- 
44 grant misconduct of one description 
44 of persons and the base servility of 
1 3. 



172 ROYAL ECLIPSE. 

" another; it is in vain for an obscure, 

w unprotected, individual like myself, 

" to resist the impetuous, ruthless, tor- 

46 rent— Vice and virtue must have 

" changed places— and I am content to 

u shara the beggared fortune of the 

l€ latter!" 



FINX8* 



Printed by D. N. SHURY, Berwick-street, Soh«. 



POSTSCRIPT. 



There is a boldness of imposition 
in the reports of the day, so glaringly 
malevolent, that 1 really feel myself im- 
pelled by a restlessness of mind, that 
will not otherwise be quieted, to give 
an incontrovertible negative to these bare* 
faced fabrications, 

When Mrs. George, through the 
hocus pocus of her convenient friend the 

K 



194 POSTSCRIPT. 

secretary 5 was, as I have related, con- 
jured into the presence of her husband's 
family — the lady most ingeniously con- 
trived to add to the speciousness of her 
visit, by dressing at the apartments alot- 
ted for the studies of her daughter, 
which join upon the town residence of 
the Squire : and — the Squire being ab- 
sent — by ordering her carriage to drive 
through his court yard, in going and 
returning, by which artifice — so worthy 
of her genius— the mob was induced to 
believe the Squire sanctioned the whole 
of the morning's ceremony. 



POSTSCRIPT. 195 

But when the Squire understood the 
circumstance, he naturally became in- 
dignant; and driving to his father's, 
told him, perhaps too positively — M that 
although he could not control the visits 
at the mansion-house, he could those 
to be improperly made at his own house ; 
and concluded, by insisting, that the 
old gentleman should find a place for 
his niece to dress in, as neither his town 
house, or Charlotte's apartments, should 
in future color her pretences/' 

He gave orders, accordingly, to his 
servants; and the more peremptorily, 
k 2 



196 POSTSCRIPT. 

as the approaching birth-day of his 
good father would afford her a new op- 
portunity of practising her former de- 
ception. 

On the day of ceremony, as was the 
custom of the manor, ill the neigh- 
bouring gentry assembled at the man- 
sion-house to offer their most cordial 
compliments to the family. 

The Squire was there— Mrs. George 
was there — Miss Charlotte was there — 
and all the sons were there, except one 



# 



* Mr. Augustus, 



POSTSCRIPT. 197 

who was prevented by indisposi- 
tion. 

On this ground, it has been as posi- 
tively, as impudently asserted, that a 
reconciliation had taken place in the 
family — that the Squire and Mrs. 
George had chatted together in the 
drawing-room — and that there could 
not any longer exist a shadow of doubt 
as to Mrs. George's perfect inno- 
cence — but not a word about her having 
been denied admittance, both at the Squire's: 
and her daughter's. 

K 3 



198 POSTSCRIPT. 

Now the simple fact is^ that on the 
morning of the day alluded to, the 
Squire breakfasted with his father, 
mother, and sisters, who were joined 
by all the rest of the family, excepting 
the invalid, and Mrs. George, w r ho was 
hot invited to the party. 

The Squire was attended, on his re- 
turn home to dress, by all these bro- 
thers, excepting Mr. Ernestus * — the 

* Mr. Ernestus, by an errata of the press, has 

been called Mr. Augustus. I wish 'particularly 

to caution the reader on this head ; as the name 

of Augustus applies to one of the most amiable 

2 



POSTCSRIPT. 199 

former chaperon of Mrs. George— 
from whence he returned at so unusually 
early an hour as a little past one, to 
join his mother in her drawing-room ; 
continuing at her side till near three; 
when the expected arrival of Mrs. 
George hurried him from his post ; so 
that he positively left the house with- 
out seeing, and consequently without 



of men in existence; but who, from ill health, 
having been obliged to live mostly in southern 
climates, is little known ? even to his own fa- 
mily. Yet in this retirement, there are indivi- 
duals who have felt the greatness of his character, 
and their hearts record it. 



200 POSTSCRIPT. 

conversing with, his wife, who had 
been obliged to borrow a room to dress 
from her friend Mrs. ShefFelde, pending 
the arrangement of apartments in the 
neighbourhood of K- — -n. 

The deductions from the foregoing 
statement are so simple and positive, 
that no argument is necessary to their 
elucidation. 

The Squire would not suffer any cir- 
cumstance to prevent his paying those 
respectful attentions to his father, which 
the day claimed— he therefore — as did 



POSTSCRIPT. 201 

his brothers — obeyed the grateful feel- 
ings of his heart, as well publicly as pri- 
vately ; but did so in a manner which 
should have precluded all possibility of its 
being supposed that he approved the visit 
of his wife on the same occasion — Yet the 
town talk has stated the reverse of this 
fact ; and ladies of distinction, even, 
who were present on the occasion, have 
corroborated these false statements, by 
declaring they saw and heard the Squire 
and his wife converse together. 

On the question of inheritance, an 
instance has occurred in high life, since 



202 POSTSCRIPT. 

the publication of this volume,- which-, 
although read by every body, will be 
more impressively understood here, in 
support of the arguments I have used, 
to show the mischievous consequences 
which may arise from not ascertaining 
at the moment the least point of 
doubt, as it relates to inheritance. 



" The Mysterious Mother. 

u A family, as well known as any in 
the kingdom, who now moves in the 
first circles of fashionable dissipation, 



POSTSCRIPT. 203 

lias lately been plunged into a most di- 
stressing situation, by the unexpected 
appearance of an hitherto considered il- 
legitimate son, who has returned from a 
far distant country, where he has been 
isolated for years, to claim his birth- 
right. 

" This denouement, which is en-train^ 
and nothing can prevent its publicity, 
will estrange a very fashionable lady 
from all her dearest interests and con- 
nexions. 

" It will astonish and place in a very 






204 POSTSCRIPT. 

aukward situation a favourite son. The 
affair has already had so serious an effect 
on the health of the principal of the 
house, that he has taken to his bed. 

" The story is an uncommon one. 
The parties concerned are so well 
known, that they have been more than 
once the subject of conversations in 
every circle, both in public and private 
life, for weeks in continuation." 

THE END* 



SHURY, PRINTER*, BERWICK*STREET ; SOH0* 



